CHI WHITE SOX: CHICAGO (AP) - From rock bottom last season to contention this year? The Chicago White Sox see no reason why it can't happen.
They're ready to put last season's 99-loss wreck behind them and make a jump at least back to respectability, if not a run at the AL Central title.
They see a team with solid pitching, a new slugger in Jose Abreu and renewed vigor. Now, all they have to do is back it up.
''You have to pitch, you have to hit, you have to score,'' said manager Robin Ventura, entering his third season. ''You have to play defense. You have to do all of them in our division. Detroit has won it the last few years. They have a combination of everything. Unless you do that, you're not going to be close. We proved that last year.''
They had the pitching part down last season. The rest? Well, that's where things got dicey.

MINNESOTA: MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The number is staggering. In the past three years, the Minnesota Twins have lost 291 games. Ninety-nine in 2011. Ninety-six each of the last two seasons.
A team that was once viewed as a model for succeeding and competing with modest financial resources has been an afterthought for too long now. They have finished last in the AL Central twice and were fourth last season.
So the Twins shed their frugal ways in the offseason, shelling out $73 million to bring in Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes to bolster a lagging rotation. They also brought back manager Ron Gardenhire on a two-year deal and moved Joe Mauer from catcher to first base in an effort to protect their franchise player from injury.
''They made a statement: `We don't want to see this again. We don't want to go through this again this summer,''' Gardenhire said.
The Twins said goodbye to longtime first baseman Justin Morneau late last season when general manager Terry Ryan traded him to the Pirates in a stretch-run deal. There weren't many other changes to an offense that has struggled to score runs, but the upgrades to the rotation have given the holdovers some peace of mind that they won't have to score seven runs a game to have a chance to win.
''It's night and day to be honest with you. Terry went out and spent some money on some good arms in Nolasco and Hughes,'' second baseman Brian Dozier said. ''Hughes had a bad year last year but is an All-Star pitcher and I think moving to this park will help him a lot. I think just getting out of New York to be honest with you. ... So we needed to address our pitching staff and Terry did that, and I'm happy about it.''

Amidst another strong season, Chris Sale is more concerned about helping the Chicago White Sox find success than achieving it for himself.

Undefeated in his last six starts, the left-hander looks to continue his recent dominance while trying to help the visiting White Sox to a third straight victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

Sale (9-1, 2.03 ERA) allowed one run for a third straight start Monday, overcoming seven hits and striking out eight over seven innings of a 3-1 win over Kansas City. He's 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA in his last seven outings and now hits the road, where he is 2-0 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts this year.

"I think I'm just trying to get better day in and day out," Sale said.

Had it not been for a flexor muscle strain that forced him to miss a month, Sale would rank second in the AL in ERA if he qualified. That still hasn't kept his name out of the Cy Young conversation.

"There's no reason why he shouldn't be in the discussion," manager Robin Ventura said.

Sale isn't focused on personal glory at the moment.

"Like I've always said, I don't pay too much attention to that," he said. "I have a job to do and I have to focus on doing that and playing games.

"We're right in the hunt right now, so these are the dog days and you have to bear down now. Now's not the time to be thinking about yourself or some trophy or whatever."

Sale posted a 0.90 ERA while winning his first three starts versus Minnesota (46-56), but has a 4.66 mark despite winning two of three since then. He allowed three runs in 7 1-3 innings of a 5-3 season-opening victory over the Twins on March 31.

Chicago (50-54) dropped five straight to Minnesota prior to winning the first two of this set. Dayan Viciedo had four hits and Jose Abreu hit a three-run homer for his 30th in Friday's 9-5 victory.

Though Abreu homered for the first time in eight contests, he's batting .365 during a 15-game hitting streak and .341 with 11 homers and 26 RBIs while hitting safely in 33 of 34. He's batting .333 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in nine against the Twins this year.

"I think we're past the point of unexpected with him," Ventura said. "You just expect him to be in the middle of things when it's happening."

Brian Dozier is hitting .308 (4 for 13) with a double and two homers versus Sale, but is 4 for 28 in his last seven games overall.

Losers in 10 of 13 at home, the Twins called up Logan Darnell from Triple-A Rochester to make his first career start in this contest. The left-hander, who was 5-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 17 starts for Rochester, takes the place of the ailing Kyle Gibson.

Darnell didn't allow a run or a hit over three innings of a 4-2 loss at Cleveland on May 6 that marked his major league debut.

As the White Sox look to secure a series win, owner Jerry Reinsdorf is expected to be released from the hospital Saturday after feeling lightheaded in Cooperstown, N.Y., while in town for the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this weekend.